If you’ve invested in a new iPad, chances are you want to get the most out of this cutting-edge tablet. To accomplish this, you’ll want to utilize your new iPad with Apple’s iCloud service. In this article, best-selling author and avid iPhone/iPad user Jason R. Rich explains what iCloud can do and how it can be used to make your important app-specific data, files, and content available to you anywhere and anytime, as long as an Internet connection is available.

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The evolution of consumer technology is a never-ending process. This fact is extremely evident when you look at how the technology behind Apple’s iPad tablets has improved in just a few short years. Combine this with the evolution of Apple’s online-based iCloud service, and you’ll see that what’s possible and extremely easy to accomplish today was nothing more than a science fiction-based fantasy less than five years ago.

Not only has Apple continued to improve upon the iPad hardware with the launch of the new iPad, it’s also improved upon the iOS operating system with the release of iOS 5.1. This operating system, as well as the programming behind iCloud, have been designed from the ground up to work seamlessly together, often in a way that’s automatic and that happens “behind-the-scenes” with no user intervention required.

This integration between iCloud, your computer, and iOS devices will advanced even further this summer, when Apple releases OS X Mountain Lion for all Mac computers. This updated operating system will also fully support iCloud in new and innovative ways.

How New iPad Users Can Really Benefit from iCloud

As a new iPad user, to truly get the most out of the technology, you’ll want to utilize the tablet in conjunction with a free Apple iCloud account. Even if you don’t use all of the functionality that iCloud offers, you’ll find that utilizing iCloud makes syncing, backing up, and sharing data between your tablet, iPhone, and Mac(s) a simple process.

After setting up iCloud to work with your tablet, other computers, and/or iOS devices, you’ll have almost instant and constant access to your contacts database, scheduling data, to-do lists, Safari bookmarks, and other app-specific data. You’ll also have your most recently shot digital photos, regardless of whether you’re using your Mac, iPad, iPhone, or any other device with a web browser.

The Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, Safari, and Photos apps that come preinstalled with iOS 5.1 on the new iPad are among the popular apps that can be fully integrated with Apple’s iCloud. As a result, when you update a contact entry or appointment on your tablet, for example, those changes are almost instantly reflected within the Contacts or Calendar app running on your iPhone, and/or the Address Book or iCal software running on your Mac(s). This same functionality works with the Reminders app in conjunction with your to-do lists.

Think of iCloud as a web-based central hub onto which your iPad data (as well as data from your other computers and/or iOS devices) gets remotely and wirelessly stored. Once data is stored within your iCloud account, it automatically gets downloaded and synced with your other computers or devices. Unlike when you use most other cloud-based file sharing services, this syncing process happens automatically and in almost real-time.

In addition to working with apps that come preinstalled on your new iPad, data, files, and document syncing with iCloud also works seamlessly with the iWork apps and software, including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, as well as with a handful of third-party iPad apps.

As a result, within minutes after turning on and activating your new iPad for the first time, you can simply enter your iCloud username and password (which is typically your Apple ID and password). As long as your tablet is connected to the Internet, the pre-existing, app-specific data that you set up to sync with iCloud will become accessible on your iPad, with absolutely no new data entry required.